News
Tuesday 10th January 2023.
January 10, 2023
From the early hours of this Monday, the events to honor the martyrs of January 9, 1964 began. The first held at 7:00 am on Avenida de Los Mártires, very close to the National Assembly, where there is a monument in homage to the group of Panamanians. There were speeches and laying of floral offerings. Relatives of the martyrs were present at this activity, as well as the President of the Assembly, Crispiano Adames, the Minister of Security, Juan Pino, and the Minister of Education, Maruja Gorday de Villalobos.
The questioning of the ‘Happy Summer’ event organized by the pro-government deputy Raúl Pineda, which involved the closure for several hours of one of the important roads that crosses the San Miguelito district, still continued one day after it was held. “How do you authorize the closure of a main road for an individual to give away bicycles? It was easy for him to distribute it on the street that they used as a diversion and not harm thousands of citizens who pay their taxes ”, are some of the comments that are placed on social networks.This took place in the morning hours of Sunday. A truck full of bicycles arrived at the event site, in front of Villa Lucre. A group of people began to unload the bicycles and placed them in an orderly manner in the middle of the road, under the watchful eye of traffic agents. The wave of criticism was also joined by deputies and candidates for an elective position by free application. “A question would be, how do you compete against this?” wrote Luis Pinedo, who is seeking the candidacy for mayor of Panama by free application.Eduardo Quirós joined their conversation and responded. “Ethics… demonstrate that honest work will give people a better quality of life and happiness than the gift box.” Quirós seeks the presidential candidacy by free application. For the independent deputy from San Miguelito, Juan Diego Vásquez, this type of event borders on clientelism. Especially in a pre-election year. “In the Assembly we approve the budget and we work on laws. If I want to change the life of a child, it is by improving education and stopping the corruption that takes away opportunities. Let’s give away good education, health and opportunities. Enough bread for today and hunger for tomorrow,” he indicated. According to the authorities, the activity had the corresponding permits.
The international banking center of Panama closed the month of November with $140,123 million in assets, according to the Superintendency of Banks of Panama in its most recent report on banking activity. The Panamanian bank superintendent, Amauri Castillo, acknowledges that exceeding this threshold is a milestone to be highlighted and referred to the solidity and stability of the banking center compared to other markets and countries where there is greater turbulence. For his part, the president of the Banking Association of Panama, Otto Wolfschoon, said that if assets -made up mainly of credits- have grown at that level, it is because liabilities and capital have also done so, and that means that both depositors and investors have confidence in the banking center to deposit their funds and invest their capital. When compared to November 2021, the international banking center experienced growth in assets of $7,302 million, a figure that represents an increase of 5.5%. The main component of the assets is the credit portfolio, which totaled $83,685.8 million, an increase of 12.7% compared to the same time the previous year. The internal portfolio is larger, while the external one is growing at a faster rate. Only in the last year, the external portfolio increased by $5,941.6 million, a considerable increase of 28.2%.
The Specialized Institute of Analysis (IEA), of the University of Panama (UP), reported that an investigation is being carried out with the objective of determining the quality of the honey that is consumed in the country, in order to avoid commercialization. of adulterated products or that do not have the required quality.The investigation on the quality of Panamanian and foreign honey consumed in the country is carried out at the request of the National Directorate of Food Control and Veterinary Surveillance of the Ministry of Health, because they have received reports of products that were being marketed without corresponding registration. This was reported by the director of the IEA, Goy Navas, who explained that despite being a laboratory that analyzes the quality of medicines, food, water and various products, within the work they carry out there is a support function for the National Directorate of Food Control and Veterinary Surveillance. Navas explained that honey in general has a shelf life and can lose its quality over time, but to scientifically verify these data, there are IEA laboratories where the appearance of some degradation products in honey is verified. such as hydroxy-methyl-furfural (a product of the breakdown of sugars), whose presence above a certain concentration indicates a degree of deterioration of the honey and that is detected only through technology that documents the presence of these products. In addition, he explained that another way to produce the alteration of honey is by adding sugar to the product. When this is done, it must be heated to dissolve it and when doing so it loses its quality, because the main components are degraded.
The government of Laurentino Nito Cortizo turns to the parade of the Mil poyeras: 25 of the 99 delegations that will participate in the event, which is scheduled for January 14, are public entities.Among them are, for example, the National Decentralization Authority, headed by Edward Mosley Ibarra; the Ministry of Government in charge of Roger Tejada; the Panama Passport Authority, which is in the hands of Omar Ahumada; like the Ministry of Social Development, which is directed by María Inés Castillo. The Ministry of Health, led by Luis Francisco Sucre, will also parade through the streets of Las Tablas, Los Santos province. The Cortizo management will also contribute to the standard bearer: the Minister of Government, Roger Tejada. Among the 99 delegations there is a political party: Realizando Metas (RM), founded by former president Ricardo Martinelli. The announcement has provoked questions from some citizens, who criticize the fact that the activity is politicized. Even the General Electoral Prosecutor’s Office, in charge of Dilio Arcia, ruled on the issue. In a statement, Arcia made it clear that the electoral legal system does not prohibit political parties from participating in events, nor do the regulations dedicated to the development of the activity; however, he warned that the groups that attend will not be able to make propaganda because they are in a period of electoral ban. “Our entity, for the sake of strict compliance with the times and rules within the electoral process, which opened last June 2022, reminds the participants of the event that we are facing an electoral ban, which prohibits any type of political propaganda outside the times dedicated for this, which must be respected, ”says the statement.